Lithuania
Lithuania is the southern Baltic state: baroque Vilnius, a modernist interwar capital in Kaunas, a port on the Curonian Lagoon, and the Hill of Crosses north of Šiauliai. The currency is the euro, and Lithuanian is the language on street signs.
- Currency
- Euro (EUR)
- Language
- Lithuanian
- Capital
- Vilnius
Cities
Vilnius
Vilnius is a capital of baroque towers, a university older than many of its streets, and a river that cuts a green edge past the old town. The main sights sit within a short walk of Cathedral Square.
Kaunas
Kaunas was the interim capital between the wars, and the avenue, the modernist villas, and the old-town town hall still show that role. It is a river city at the confluence of the Nemunas and the Neris, easier to walk than its industrial edge suggests.
Klaipėda
Klaipėda is Lithuania’s seaport, a former Prussian town the old maps called Memel, with a half-timber old town on the Danė and a ferry to the Curonian Spit. The centre is small; the port and the beaches are the scale.
Šiauliai
Šiauliai is the largest city in northern Lithuania, a low grid of a centre with a famous sundial and the Hill of Crosses a short drive north. It is not a postcard old town. The interest is the hill, the cathedral, and a few civic rooms.